For this voting block, the Bible is a literal version of events, not a metaphorical one. They believe the Earth is less than 10 000 years old, they believe climate change won’t flood the planet because God showed Noah a rainbow and they believe that the end of times and Armageddon could be upon us and they will all be raptured away to heaven.

We need to reject this attempt to differentiate the poor from the utterly destitute because it’s a mere political illusion that pretends to be doing something when in reality it is only allowing the problem to get more damaged.

There’s been a very interesting series of articles published by the NZ Herald over the last week looking into why the NZ music scene that was so vibrant at the end of the 1990s has crashed to such woeful levels now.

It paints a bleak picture of the current NZ media landscape and highlights the real threat that the majority of news media is now in private hands meaning we are ripe for political manipulation and exploitation by those commercial interests that own those media.

What’s up with all these angry old white rich men suddenly denouncing Maoridom and how best should people who believe in progressive change and true Treaty partnership best respond to such naked ignorance?

This need to keep the business community pacified with austerity vs the realities of needing to borrow more to repair the vast social damage 9 years of National has generated is the real friction point in the new Government.

His message – that Israeli society is incapable of dismantling the occupation and that the only way change will occur is by outside nations forcing that change upon Israel. He spoke positively of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) calling it the only game in town in shaming Israel into action.

I think the far more horrifying reality is that Trump is not going anywhere and even if he is impeached and tied up in some further prosecution, we are all simply being hopeful that this nightmare ends rather than that being the reality.

It seems deeply sad and ugly that a gift like Te Reo can be attacked in this manner, we are beyond this and all I hear in Brash and Edwards are the roar of tired dinosaurs who don’t appreciate they are extinct already.

Look, I like Golriz, I vote Green, I supported Metiria’s brave admission and I honestly hand on heart believe Green policy is the best for NZ – what I can’t support is the incompetent political mis-management that has seen the Party continue to go backwards at the ballot box for almost a decade!